Casey Hernandez of Centereach duels Alexander Star of Ward Melville at the Suffolk Individual Fencing Championships. Photo by Steven Zaitz
Yannick Reyes of Ward Melville, left, looks for an opening against Yadiel Abreu of Brentwood. Photo by Steven Zaitz
Suffolk County Fencing Championship. Photo by Steven Zaitz
Vincent DiCarlo of Ward Melville is a sabrist. Photo by Steven Zaitz
Mattias Weber of Walt Whitman won the gold medal in sabre. He duels against Ward Melville’s Vincent DiCarlo. Photo by Steven Zaitz
From left, Benjamin Edgar-McNerney, 2nd, Josh Sagastizado of Brentwood, 4th, Vincent DiCarlo of Ward Melville, 8th, and Bricen Peinado, 10th of Newfield in boys sabre. Photo by Steve Zaitz
By Steven Zaitz
The string of good fortune continues for the Newfield Wolverine Fencing program.
After its boys team won its fourth consecutive Suffolk County title on Feb. 8, they descended upon Ward Melville High School on Saturday and with their Lady Wolverine counterparts, won a raft of medals at the Suffolk County Individual Championships.
Marc Lindemann and Sophie Chen both took gold in the foil category as did Mya Barry with her Sabre. Meadow Dalberg took the silver medal in girls foil.
Saaim Imran was a solid fifth place in boys sabre and Ashleigh Murray came in eighth in girls épée, and Addison Ackerly was eighth in girls sabre for the Wolverines.
Host Ward Melville, whose girls team won the Suffolk girls championship also on Feb. 8, picked up two medals. Kiki Liu won the bronze, behind Chen and Dahlberg and Zachary Silverman also won bronze in the boys sabre competition. Yannick Reyes took ninth place out of 18 in the boys foil for the Patriots, Nicolas Giordano was sixth and Vincent DiCarlo eighth in sabre and Ava Lamedica was fourth in girls sabre.
Pending the weather on Feb. 13, Newfield Boys and Ward Melville girls fencing teams will face both of Nassau County’s Great Neck South teams for the Long Island championship at Brentwood High School. The Rebels and Lady Rebels beat both Syosset teams in their home gym last Friday, Feb 9. It was the sixth consecutive Section XIII for the girls of Great Neck South.
Constance T. “Connie” Brown of Point Lookout and formerly of Stony Brook passed away on Feb. 7 at the age of 94.
She was the beloved wife of the late James E. and loving mother of Francis (Karen), Edmund (Christina), James (Deborah), Robert (Laura) and Thomas (Kristin); cherished grandmother of Megan (James), Denis (Alice), Kelly, Ryan, Daniel, Mairead, Kyle, Jacklyn, Chloe, Michael, Emily, Thomas, Erin, Matthew, Timothy and Kiera; proud great-grandmother of Eden; and adored sister of Eugene and predeceased by Wylie, William and Raymond.
Funeral arrangements entrusted to Charles J. O’Shea Funeral Home in Wantagh. Visitation was held Monday, Feb. 12, with a Mass of Christian Burial the following day at Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal R.C. Church, Point Lookout. Final resting place is at Calverton National Cemetery
Harry Alan Meeker of Melbourne, Florida, and East Hampton passed away on Feb. 5 at Holmes Regional Medical Center in Melbourne after a fall in his home. At the time of his passing, Harry was surrounded by his loving family and the caring staff at HRMC.
Harry was born on Aug. 18, 1927, in Mineola to Henry and Marie Meeker and was the eldest of six children. He is survived by his wife Joan of 70 years; his daughter Susan and son-in-law Jim Paul of Melbourne; his son Christopher and daughter-in-law Sally of Sound Beach; his son Stephen and daughter-in-law Eileen of Newtown, Connecticut; grandchildren Kyle, Owen and Peri; and great-grandchildren Ava and Silhouette; his youngest brother Jon; and his sisters-in-law Nancy, Anne and Kathy. He was predeceased by his brothers David, Roger and Peter, and sister Doris Benson.
Harry received his bachelor’s in education from Cortland State Teachers College in 1950. Throughout college, Harry participated in a variety of intercollegiate sports and was named a member of the All-American college lacrosse team. Immediately after college, Harry was drafted into the Army, attended Officer Candidate School and deployed to Korea where he served as a platoon leader in the 3rd Infantry Division. There he was awarded the Bronze Star Medal and Combat Infantryman and Sharpshooter (Carbine) badges. Upon his honorable discharge from the Army as first lieutenant in 1953, Harry began his 31-year teaching career and received a master’s degree in education from Colgate University. Throughout his career as a high school math, science and physical education teacher in the Three Village Central School District, Harry took an active interest in his students often chaperoning hiking, camping and skiing trips. As the P.J. Gelinas Junior High School principal, Harry developed and chaperoned an international exchange program with a middle school in England.
Harry enjoyed the outdoors whether gardening, camping, canoeing, skiing, hiking, boating or sitting and watching the sunset. He drew his family along on many a mountain climb, canoeing expedition and camping trip. Cooking and planning the week’s menu was a passion that led to many an adventurous meal. He was a hard worker, a natural leader, a supportive friend, faithful husband and dedicated father. While working his way through college, he met his wife while delivering ice in the late 1940s. Harry and Joan were married on June 27, 1953, in Most Holy Trinity R.C. Church in East Hampton. Even into his 96th year, Harry referred to a refrigerator as the “ice box.”
Interment with military honors will be on Wednesday, Feb. 21, at 10 a.m. at Cape Canaveral National Cemetery, Mims, Florida, with memorial repast immediately to follow.
In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations are considered to the American Cancer Society at www.cancer.org or the IRCC Foundation at colonyclub.com in Harry’s name.
Huntington Town Clerk Andrew P. Raia carried on the tradition of officiating over the Valentine’s Day Wedding Marathon that took place in Huntington Town Hall.
First initiated in 1995 by then Town Clerk Jo-Ann Raia, the Annual Huntington Town Valentine’s Day MarriageMarathon has always been well received by all the participating couples and guests. Town Clerk Andrew Raia was honored to continue this special event initiated by his predecessor and mother, Jo-Ann Raia.
“Having a wedding on Valentine’s Day makes the holiday more memorable and a wedding you will never forget,” said Town Clerk Andrew Raia. “It has been a privilege and a pleasure for me to unite these couples and to share in their happiness on this very special day.”
At this year’s Valentine’s Day Marathon, Andrew Raia officiated 10 marriages in the Huntington Town Board Room, which was decorated with hearts, flowers, and candlelight.
Special thanks to local merchants have always been very generous and supportive of this event. This year’s merchants –consisting of bakeries, restaurants, florists, supermarkets/food stores, and pharmacies—donated items for this year’s celebration.
The banning of DDT in the United States in 1972 helped the bald eagle population rebound.
Photo by John Dielman
By John L. Turner
John Turner
If ecologists have revealed anything from the thousands of studies of nature and its countless components, relationships, and interactions, it is the extent to which life is interconnected, with the fate of so many living things interwoven with the fate of others. Many of these studies have shown how species are tied together in many unforeseen ways, built on complex webs and relationships.
John Muir, the founder of the Sierra Club, knew this truism when he wrote about the “intricate tapestry of the natural world” and perhaps best reflected by his famous comment “When one tugs at a single thing in nature, he finds it attached to the rest of the world.”
Aldo Leopold, perhaps the most impactful conservationist this country has produced, understood this too, expressing it in a slightly different way: “To keep every cog and wheel is the first precaution of intelligent tinkering.” Leopold recognized that adversely affecting one species in a natural community can trigger a set of undesirable ecological actions thatripples throughout the community.
There are many straightforward examples illustrating the ecological “ties that bind.”
One basic concept involves food chains, constructs that help us to understand the connection of one species with another in “eat and be eaten” relationships and the pesticide DDT, banned long-ago, illustrates how species along a food chain can be connected.DDT was once widely used throughout the United States (and still is used in other parts of the world) and commonly applied on Long Island in the 1950’s and 60’s in an effort to control mosquitoes, especially salt marsh species.
The DDT in water was assimilated into algae and other phytoplankton, that were fed upon by zooplankton, and many species of zooplankton were, in turn, eaten by small fish who were consumed by larger fish. The larger fish were consumed by fish-eating birds like ospreys, bald eagles, pelicans, and cormorants.
DDT is fat soluble and not easily excreted so it increased in concentration in the animals higher on the food chain, to the point that in birds it interfered with their ability to lay viable eggs. A loss of viable eggs meant declines in the abundance of these species.DDT served as an unfortunate illustration of how food chains and webs worked, connecting phytoplankton and zooplankton (species lower on a food chain) to fish and ultimately to birds (higher on the food chain).
In reality, the world is a much more complicated place and an ecosystem can have numerous food chains that interconnect in a larger and more comprehensive food web, resulting in “cause and effect” relationships that might not be apparent at first.
As an example, let’s take Yellowstone National Park. For much of the twentieth century the National Park Service had a wrongheaded and myopicpolicy of eradicating timber wolves within park boundaries, resulting in burgeoning populations of elk and deer that, in turn, increased browsing and grazing of the Park’s small trees, shrubs and grasses.
The reintroduction of wolves in Yellowstone Park restored the park’s ecosystem. Photo from Pixabay
Wolves were reintroduced into the Park in 1995 and almost immediately created a cascade of effects that rippled throughout Yellowstone. Wolves disrupted elk herds, their primary prey, allowing for their preferred habitat — riverbanks of willows and aspens — to recover. This new growth provided breeding habitat for a variety of songbirds and the shade the trees created helped fish populations. Beaver increased (there was but one beaver colony when the wolves were brought back; now there are nine) responding to the new, fresh tree growth. Their constructed dams created impoundments for aquatic invertebrates and fish and freshwater marshes where moose and mink occurred.
Coyotes declined due to wolf predation which allowed for foxes to increase and wolf introduction also benefited grizzly bears who had more berries to eat due to lessened browsing by elk. Prey carcasses also sustained a number of other species like lynx, wolverines, eagles, raven and magpies, grizzly bears just emerging from hibernation, and even beetle species. Ecologists have documented changes down to the diversity of microbes in the soil as a result of wolves reestablishment!
Closer to home we have the case of the diamondback terrapin. A beautiful reptile with strongholds in the bays and harbors of Long Island’s north shore, it plays an important role in maintaining the health of salt marsh environments in which it lives. With very strong jaws, hard food objects are fair game and terrapins routinely eat several snail species, helping to keep them in check. A good thing because some of the snails feed on marsh grass (Spartina) and if their populations were not controlled it could result in the loss of marshes and the numerous attendant benefits salt marshes provide in the form of food production, attenuating coastal flooding, softening the impacts of coastal storms, and providing habitat for so many plant and animal species.
A last example underscores how a species can help knit together two distant places with ramifications on human health — in this case India and East Africa. There’s a dragonfly known as the wandering glider and remarkably millions migrate across the Indian Ocean each year, leaving the rice patties and other wetlands where they were born and overwintering in East Africa. Here, they are voracious predators of mosquitoes, many of which carry malaria, an affliction which can be fatal if untreated. Scientists noted an increase in malaria cases in East Africa and tied it back to a reduction in dragonflies caused by pesticide use in Indian wetland pools.
As these examples illustrate the natural world is an exceptionally complex interwoven tapestry of life with many unforeseen connections. You can understand why Frank Edwin Egler, an American botanist, observed “Nature is not more complicated than you think, it is more complicated than you CAN think.”
A resident of Setauket, author John Turner is conservation chair of the Four Harbors Audubon Society, author of “Exploring the Other Island: A Seasonal Nature Guide to Long Island” and president of Alula Birding & Natural History Tours.
Trucks line up outside the Brookhaven landfill. Photo courtesy Samantha Rutt
By Samantha Rutt
The Town of Brookhaven landfill, a towering 192-acre presence on Yaphank’s landscape, is set for a partial closure this year, but its complete demise might not be as imminent as planned.
The initial plan, set in motion years ago, aimed for a complete closure of the landfill by 2024. While construction and demolition debris disposal has been earmarked to cease by the end of 2024, the facility could remain open until 2027 or 2028 to accept incinerator ash, sparking debates about environmental impact and responsible waste management.
A 2021 Town of Brookhaven exploratory report stated, “The Brookhaven landfill is anticipated to reach the capacity limits of its DEC permit by December 2024, creating a challenge for residents and Brookhaven Town regarding the future disposal of MSW [municipal solid waste], ash and construction and demolition debris.”
However, new Town Supervisor Dan Panico (R) has thrown a wrench in that timeline, seeking a permit extension allowing the facility to accept ash from Covanta’s Westbury waste-to-energy plant until 2027 or 2028.
“We will cease taking construction and demolition debris at the end of 2024, and we will continue taking ash, not only from the Town of Brookhaven Covanta but from Islip, Smithtown and Huntington as it is a regional ash fill,” Panico said in an interview with Newsday. “That will probably go through 2027 and cease in the first month of 2028.”
The town would need to seek an extension of its state-issued permit when it expires in July 2026. This decision stems from the lack of alternative disposal solutions for the roughly 340,000 tons of ash generated annually by Covanta, which serves much of Suffolk County. The landfill stands as Brookhaven’s second-biggest source of income after property taxes, expected to generate $55 million in 2024, implying sizable financial implications for when the property closes.
“It is not necessarily an extension because the waste-to-energy facilities are a reality and a necessity on Long Island,” Panico said in an interview.
The news has divided the community. Proponents of the extension argue it buys valuable time for exploring alternatives. Opponents, however, express concerns about potential environmental repercussions.
Locals have gathered together in efforts against the landfill, raising their concerns. Currently, the town is underway with a state-ordered assessment by the Department of Environmental Conservation of a toxic plume emanating from the landfill.
In North Bellport and areas surrounding the landfill, community members have joined together to create the Brookhaven Landfill Action and Remediation Group. This group has committed itself to finding sustainable solutions for the disposal of Long Island’s waste.
“The time is now. The time was yesterday,” Monique Fitzgerald, Brookhaven Landfill Action and Remediation Group co-founder, said on the group’s Facebook page. “The time was 50 years ago. This is not to wait. You’re talking about this, which is going to take two years. We can’t keep pushing this down the road. If we have a moment of intervention, this is the time to act.”
In densely populated areas like Long Island, with limited landfill space, communities are often left to grapple with balancing environmental concerns and the practicalities of managing massive amounts of waste.
The Town Board is currently evaluating the permit extension request, considering public input and environmental assessments. Environmental groups like the Long Island Pine Barrens Society have voiced their opposition, urging the board to explore alternatives like recycling, composting and waste-to-fuel technologies.
The Brookhaven landfill saga stands as a microcosm of Long Island’s larger waste management challenges. As the closure deadline looms, the community faces a crucial decision: Extend the landfill’s life for a temporary fix or invest in long-term, sustainable solutions. The next few years will be critical in shaping the future of waste management in the region and potentially impacting the environment and communities for years to come.
Three out of the four Democratic congressional candidates for District 1 — Nancy Goroff, Kyle Hill and Craig Herskowitz — attended a meet-the-candidates night at the Brookhaven Town Democratic Committee headquarters Tuesday, Feb. 6. During the meeting, the candidates addressed why they are running, their most important issues and policies they would support. The fourth candidate, former District 5 state Sen. James Gaughran [D-Northport], was unable to attend. The current congressional seat is held by Nick LaLota (R).
Introductions
Goroff, who has formerly served as the chair of the chemistry department at Stony Brook University, and previously ran for the congressional seat in 2020 against former Congressman Lee Zeldin (R), said that she was running “to protect our right to bodily autonomy” and “to build an economy that’s going to work for everybody,” along with environmental issues such as coastal erosion, climate change and water quality.
Herskowitz has interned for Sen. Edward M. “Ted” Kennedy (D) and Rep. Steve Israel (D). The candidate believes that his “judicial, legislative and executive experience, as well as criminal prosecution and criminal defense experience,” which includes him working at the Office of the General Counsel in the U.S. Marshals Service, the FBI and the Department of Justice, before being appointed as assistant counsel to Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D), before working as a criminal defense attorney and being appointed as an administrative law judge within the New York City Department of Finance, will allow him to connect with the congressional district.
Hill went to graduate school at Stony Brook University, after which he worked for Israel on Capitol Hill, where he “became a health care policy expert.” He worked on rallying congressional support to update the organ transplant rules, and since coming back to Long Island, he has become a volunteer EMT and is involved with the Brookhaven Town Democratic Committee. He has become frustrated “every single day with [Congress’s] dysfunction,” and believes that by winning the CD1 seat, along with gaining a Democratic majority, Congress can function better.
Health care
Hill would support passing the Social Security 2100 Act, which, among other things, would change the current law that caps earnings subject to the Social Security tax which, at the time the bill was introduced, was $160,200, but now stands at $168,600, to instead have earnings over $400,000 once again be subjected to the tax. However, all earnings in between would not be subject to the tax. He also said that it is necessary to build upon incentives for doctors and health care agencies to keep folks healthy and out of the hospital
Herskowitz said that he was “the only candidate in this race that’s supporting Medicare for All” and said that “we need to make sure people are paying their fair share of taxes,” and that “people that are damaging our environment are paying more for our health care system because they are the ones who are polluting our water, polluting our air.” He also said that “we need to find ways to ensure that Social Security is available to everyone.”
Goroff called Social Security and Medicare “two of our most successful government programs ever.” She said that it is necessary to “lift the cap on salary at which we take Social Security taxes,” adding, “That one change would make Social Security and Medicare both financially secure going into the future.” She also said that the age to receive Medicare should be reduced.
Voter engagement
Herskowitz said that it is important to fight against misinformation, activate the voters and get people excited to vote, adding that a strong grassroots campaign was necessary to make sure “every single voter is touched, several times throughout the campaign, to make sure that people come out to vote.” He also said that it was necessary to appeal to the moderate center voters.
Hill said that “we’ve seen cycle over cycle that the Democrats who are coming out to vote have become fewer and fewer and more folks are registering as unaffiliated,” adding that it was necessary to figure out why they are not coming out to vote, and that it was necessary to have a message that brings out both Democrats and those in the middle. He said that Democrats need to lean into their strengths, citing issues such as infrastructure, drug pricing reform and the cost-of-living crisis.
Goroff said that in order to get people to vote who don’t automatically do so, or who vote for either a Democrat or a Republican, “it’s not about the issues, it’s about them believing that this person is going to represent them.” She said that she is committed to making sure voters know who she is as a person, educator and community leader, adding that it matters that they know they would have someone working hard for them “versus somebody who is just spewing talking points.”
Climate change
Hill said that he supports changing every car that the federal government owns to an electric vehicle, including from government agencies such as the post office. “We can use the purchasing power of the federal government to shape the market and make EVs more available, bringing down the price, make it more accessible, have more charging stations everywhere, and that’s something the federal government directly controls and already has its hands on,” he added.
Herskowitz said that it was necessary to move away from fossil fuels and invest in technologies that could remove carbon emissions from the atmosphere and nitrate from the soil and ground that leaks into the water. He also said that it was important to combat misinformation surrounding renewable energy.
Goroff said that the United States should be carbon neutral in energy production by 2035, and in transportation and buildings, along with the rest of the economy, by 2050. She supports the Inflation Reduction Act, which would invest in clean energy: “We need to be investing in clean energy and technologies now, making sure that we’re having proper oversight, and investing in new technologies for the future.”
Immigration
Goroff said that DACA recipients need a pathway to citizenship, and that it’s important to recognize the challenges for communities in getting resources for large numbers of migrants and nonnative English speakers. “The only way we can deal with that fairly is for the federal government to make sure that for school districts, like in Riverhead where they have very large numbers of nonnative speakers of English, that they’re getting adequate funding for those programs,” she said.
Herskowitz said that the vast majority of people who are in this country illegally do so by coming here legally and overstaying their visas, and clarified that coming to the border and requesting asylum is 100% legal, adding that more judges are needed to adjudicate asylum claims. “The migrants that are here want to work, and they should be able to work, and we should be able to expedite [that] so they can work, they can pay taxes, they can contribute to the economy,” he said, adding that comprehensive immigration reform was needed because “obviously the immigration system is broken.”
Hill said that it is necessary to address what’s causing the issues, “which is the rampant gang violence in Central America. Part of all of these comprehensive solutions has been greater investment in our southern neighbors to make sure there’s economic development [and] a reason to stay in their home.” He added, “Every time these comprehensive packages don’t end up happening, those things get left off the table.” He also said the budget, which Congress has yet to pass, would be an opportunity to address the concerns by “more appropriately [targeting] our foreign aid,” and better funding for the Department of Justice “so that judges can adjudicate asylum claims so that folks can enter society and be part of the society.”
Suffolk County Crime Stoppers and Suffolk County Police Second Precinct Crime Section officers are seeking the public’s help to identify and locate the man who allegedly stole merchandise from a Huntington Station store in January.
A man allegedly stole approximately $650 worth of cosmetics from Target, located at 124 East Jericho Turnpike, on January 20.
Suffolk County Crime Stoppers offers a cash reward for information that leads to an arrest. Anyone with information about these incidents can contact Suffolk County Crime Stoppers to submit an anonymous tip by calling 1-800-220-TIPS, utilizing a mobile app which can be downloaded through the App Store or Google Play by searching P3 Tips, or online at www.P3Tips.com. All calls, text messages and emails will be kept confidential.
Suffolk County Crime Stoppers and Suffolk County Police Sixth Squad detectives are seeking the public’s help to identify and locate the man who allegedly used counterfeit currency in Medford in January.
A man allegedly used $150 in counterfeit $10 bills to purchase plumbing equipment from Lowe’s, located at 2796 Route 112, on January 10 at approximately 5:30 p.m.
Suffolk County Crime Stoppers offers a cash reward for information that leads to an arrest. Anyone with information about these incidents can contact Suffolk County Crime Stoppers to submit an anonymous tip by calling 1-800-220-TIPS, utilizing a mobile app which can be downloaded through the App Store or Google Play by searching P3 Tips, or online at www.P3Tips.com. All calls, text messages and emails will be kept confidential.
Dan Kerr, on left, passes the baton to Herb Mones. Photo from Dan Kerr
Herb Mones was recently elected warden at historic All Souls Church in Stony Brook.He succeeds Dan Kerr who served the maximin of two consecutive terms as the senior elected lay leader of the church.Herb was formerly installed in his new leadership role by Father Tom Resse at the Sunday service on Feb. 4.
Photo courtesy of Daniel Kerr
Outgoing Warden Dan Kerr noted, “It is time to pass the leadership baton to someone else, and Herb is a great choice.”Herb has served in many leadership roles throughout our community over the decades, including president of the Three Village Civic Association, Chair of the Friends of the Greenway, President of the West Meadow Conservancy, and Chair of the Greening of 25A. He continues his thirty plus years on the Board of the Three Village Civic Association as the Chair of its Land Use Committee.
Reflecting on his new role, Herb said, “This is a wonderful opportunity to serve a warm and welcoming congregation that is rich in history, tradition, and spirit. My hope, and prayer, is to advance our mission: All Souls is a Christian community in the Anglican tradition. We strive to be mutually supportive of the personal spiritual journey, respecting the individuality of all, and accepting the value of meeting people where they are on that journey.”
The Stanford White designed church at 61 Main Street in Stony Brook is open every day for prayer and reflection.In addition to its Episcopal services on Sunday, All Souls offers Interfaith Morning Prayer every Tuesday at 8:00am and an Interdenominational Rosary on Wednesday at Noon.Its monthly outreach events include Saturdays at Six concerts, Second Saturdays poetry readings and Native American Drumming.
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